Page 52 of Abyss

“That what? That I’d run off with him, too? So you came charging in like a bull?”

Her words jolt me and I’m tongue-tied for a moment. “You know?”

“Doesn’t everyone who works for you? I mean, you keep his office locked up like it’s radioactive, you stiffen at the sight of him, and avoid any mention of him. Yes, Hudson, I know enough.” She pauses. “I know that some of the staff went with him, as did . . .” she clears her throat, “as did your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend now.” Those words leave my lips faster than I thought possible.

“Okay.” Kavi shifts on her feet, her orange boots sprinkled and muddy from her stroll.

I take the platter from her hands because it looks uncomfortable and heavy. “I’m sorry. Again. Forgive me?”

She wraps her arms around her chest, and I try my best not to drop my eyes to the way her breasts lift under her blazer. I try, but fail. “I’ll think about it.”

I nod. “That’s fair. Perhaps there’s something I can do to hurry you along?”

Her gaze shifts to her right before she bites the corner of her lip. I can’t take my eyes off the movement and that tiny diamond I’ve become so fucking fascinated with. “Well, I was coming to grab dinner at this bakery. You could join me.”

My brows draw up. “Ah, so you weren’t running away from your monstrous boss. You were merely getting dinner.”

She tilts her head. “Let’s not misconstrue; I was mostdefinitelyrunning away from my monstrous andbeastlyboss, but I was also hungry. I was going to find a way to forgive him while stuffing my face with their clam chowder and sourdough bread.”

“Beastly. Ouch.”

She tries not to smile at my feigned hurt expression, but itbreaks free, anyway. “Only in the biblical sense, not physically.”

“Well, that makes me feel better.” I lean in, knowing I’m flirting and knowing that she’s flirting back. Knowing how much trouble we could get into if we don’t stop right this second. “So,physically, what are your thoughts about this boss of yours?”

“My thoughts?” She holds my gaze, clearly thinking about her next words. “My thoughts are definitely not of thegoodvariety.”

Yeah, mine neither.

Chapter Sixteen

KAVI

“Idon’t know why, but I can’t see you working on a fishing charter.”

Hudson dips a piece of his sourdough into his bowl of chowder, popping it into his mouth before lifting a shoulder. “Sometimes it feels like a lifetime ago, and sometimes like it was yesterday.”

I watch the way his long fingers hold the top of his spoon, the expensive watch around his wrist picking up the lighting from the restaurant before he scoops a bite into his mouth. He’s looking down at his bowl, his thick brown lashes fluttering.

Is it normal for a woman to notice things like thick brows and curled lashes on a man? I have no idea, but it’s clear that I do when it comes tothisparticular man.

He confuses me.

Like the power and strength he exudes, as compared to the soft and tender side of him—the side that apologizes and cares.

His dismissal stung. The way he tossed me aside with a rebuke in front of his brother today made me feel moreinsignificant than I’d ever felt around him, even as compared to the way he’d treated me on my first couple of days.

Maybe it stung more because I thought we’d come to an understanding, a mutual respect over the past few days. But with the way he spoke to me, I wondered if I’d imagined it.

Then there he was, standing under my damn umbrella, demanding—not for the first time—my forgiveness. And though I was reluctant at first, I decided that chasing me down and begging me to listen meantsomething. Sure, he was still a colossal porcupine with hemorrhoids, but at least he had the decency to acknowledge it.

And amidst all that prickliness, I glimpsed a soft heart reflecting through his eyes and embedded in his words.

So, true to form, I caved.

Again.

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